<p>I'm a high school senior and (like all other high school seniors) I'm trying to decide where I want to apply to college.</p>
<p>So basically, I'm really interested in biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, etc. And, well, I see that Yale has a major in "Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry" but I'm not quite sure if science is Yale's strong suit. This leads to the question of the moment...</p>
<p>How is science at Yale?</p>
<p>Is it a priority? Is MB&B very popular? What are the classes and other students like? What do most people in this majors plan to do with their lives after college (med school, resesarch, academia)? In essence, is this type of science well-regarded at Yale?</p>
<p>I wouldn't say Yale is not known for its sciences, but all the departments here are quite respectable - and you can't go wrong with MB&B here. MB&B and MCDB are, I think, the largest/most popular science majors here, mostly because they're seen as very good pre-med majors; the departments are very very good overall in any case.</p>
<p>On this board, you'll probably get a lot of people telling you that if you're into sciences you shouldn't go to Yale. Don't listen to them :-) Sure, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, w/e probably have better reputations in the sciences, but then again, department reputations really only matter once you start talking about grad schools. Find the school that fits your overall interests - I'm a hardcore chemistry/physics geek, but I chose Yale over MIT & Stanford because I liked the residential college system & the strong humanities departments etc. Once you start talking about institutions on the HYPSM level, apply to schools that offer an overall experience that appeals to you, and worry about specific departments later.</p>
<p>Thanks for the post. It's rather interesting to see someone who turned down MIT and Stanford to study physics at Yale. I too am very interested in applying but I would like to ask, is this also the case for math? Do you have any say on Yale's major major?</p>
<p>Thanks, athena_wiles. I think it's very important to go to school with people who don't necessarily want to study the same thing as me. But as for my major, what if I'm not planning on going to medical school? Is MB&B full of pre-meds as opposed to other types of students?</p>
<p>I heard Yale built a $500 million science building for biotech stuff.</p>
<p>I am interested in biomedical engineering at Yale? Do you anything about that department? Does it have the connections/reputation to get internships, etc?<br>
Thanks!!</p>
<p>I hear that about biomedical engineering too but I also hear that engineering at Yale is less than great. I'm interested to see the answer to this question too as I'm definitely throwing around engineering as an option.</p>
<p>Hey, my town just paid $900 million for a new NFL stadium. Sure, we don't have police, firemen, or decent teachers, but we do have the Colts! Woo hoo!</p>
<p>funkbunk - sorry, I don't know much about the math major at Yale (though I have a few friends who are math majors and seem to be enjoying themselves immensely... totally immersed in both the math and the poli sci & english classes!). If you want more info about it & nobody on this board can help you out, I'd suggest emailing the DUS (director of undergraduate studies) - email address should be on the department website.</p>
<p>igrok - yes, MB&B is full of pre-meds (ie. as opposed to people who want to go into academia), but I don't think that that makes it any less of a good major. Pre-meds probably means there's more competition, but that's something you'll face in the biological sciences at any university.</p>
<p>Again, don't know anything about biomed engineering, but my friends in chemE and BiomedE seem to be pretty happy... as before, I'm not a good person to ask about these, but I hope someone can give you some useful info!</p>
<p>And about the "$500 million biotech building" - this isn't quite true, but Yale has been sinking <em>a lot</em> of money into the science facilities recently. They're in the final stages of completing a new engineering building (it's REALLY cool) and a new set of chemistry labs right now, and I think there's another bio (?) lab and another forestry building still planned up on science hill... don't quote me on that, though, I'm sure there's more info on the websites.</p>
<p>Yale has been sinking about one billion in the sciences, which has translated into a number of new buildings and new facilities - though none of which have probably cost 500 million. As for MB&B, I've stated many times on this board that this major at Yale is hands down phenomenal. The faculty is one of the best in the country and the facilities are top. The best part is that it is highly undergrad focused and you will have exposure one on one to many professors who are interested in you and your research aspirations. I found that many of my friends in the major went on to do MD-PhD's at the best institutions like UCSF, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Penn, JHU, Cornell Tri-Institutional etc... </p>
<p>When it comes to biological sciences Yale is competetive with any other institution. At the undergraduate level, however, I would have to agree that departmental rankings are far less important than the amount of undergraduate focus available. You might be surrounded by nobel laureates, but if they aren't accessible or if you're just a name in a 1000 person lecture, then does it really matter (no offense, Berkeley undergrad)? I would say, at the undergraduate stage, its more important to get down the basics of biochem for example, to prepare you for either grad or professional work. Yale is great in this regard - MB&B especially so because it is far smaller than MCDB (does this exist any more or has it merged with EEB?). It is also quite broad and in that respect very rewarding when you are able to bring mid level phyics, chem and bio together into classes like spectroscopy and amino acid and nucleic chemistry! You can really dictate your focus as well, whether biochem or biophyics interests you more... </p>
<p>The downside of MB&B is that it has many pre-requisistes, so many that you would be at a disadvantage if you didnt' place out of required introductory course like Chem 114, intro to bio, calc 2, stuff like that. Go right into organic or physical chemistry and place out of intro bio (take a mid level like genetics instead). That way you won't be tied up for two years taking tons of pre-reqs. This will free up your schedule to take the a sampling of the amazing blue book (take as many classes as possible outside your major, its your last chance!) </p>
<p>We were sort of wrong by the way - there is going to be 430 million dollar building to be built at yale soon: the new cancer center at the medical school. Though I think this is a joint venture with the hospital, so its not part of the one billion dollar campaign, and it been delayed due to zoning issues.</p>
<p>I can also answer questions with regards to pre-med and medical school.</p>
<p>Yale and Caltech have the strongest undergraduate science programs of any schools in the country.</p>
<p>Ignore the graduate department rankings, which are based mostly on the number of faculty. In terms of resources per student or the success of individual students who graduate from these schools, the rankings tell you almost nothing.</p>
<p>Yale is spending $500 million for several new science and engineering buildings (about $100 million per building), plus $500 million for medical/biological research buildings at the adjacent medical center ($200 million for one building that's been completed, and another $300 for other buildings), PLUS $430 million for a cancer center (which is underway). These are all separate projects and constitute a larger investment in science than all the other Ivies combined.</p>
<p>The basis for Yale and Caltech being the best is the number of science professors, amount of scientific research, and number of laboratories per student. MIT would be third place - it matches Yale and Caltech in research per student, but performs slightly worse in professors per student. Of course, these factors have a major impact in how well alumni do when they apply for graduate school in the sciences. The more personal attention given to students, the better students tend to do. </p>
<p>In other words, if you want to rot away in a lab with 100 other grad students and undergrads, go to a bigger school. But if you want the best education, look at places like Caltech, Yale, Princeton or even Swarthmore and Williams.</p>
<p>Harvard is great for sciences also - in the league of Princeton, Yale, MIT, etc. Its research funding per student is very high - definitely one of the top ten (although not as high as MIT, Yale or Caltech).</p>
<p>The only problem is Harvard is much larger (and has a higher proportion of science majors than other liberal arts universities), so you'd be competing against a much larger group of science students.</p>
<p>Visit each school, talk to as many professors as possible (ask them "why should I come here"), as well as students, and make your decision that way.</p>
<p>I don't know.. doesn't it depend more on a case by case basis and personality? How much socialization do you expect to go on while in class? A couple of my suitemates are very much into the hard sciences and I do see them very much. Other than the labs (which require to 'trek up science hill' or simply take the bus), classes that don't require the lab tech. are often being assigned to non-science hill locations. The new biomedical engineering building which I'll guess will be open for Spring semester is very nice and quite close to the residential colleges.</p>
<p>I think Yale is better known for other strengths, but the administration have demonstrated some conciousness of this and are trying to turn things around. The huge investments and relocation of classes are definetely going to make a difference in the near future. Come visit and judge for yourself. It's the best thing you can do.</p>